Pros: None
Cons: None
Best performing big blade for the money.
Got my Camp 10 (C10) about three weeks ago, and it's been a great purchase. I use this knife as a general camping/survival blade. The blade shape has been called a "Kukri style" in some of the reviews on boob-toob, but it's much closer to a "Bolo" style. Regardless, the concave curve on the lower half of the blade works exceptionally well for short, controlled power strokes, such as when delimbing, and shaving down a small log to make a fire board for a hand or bow drill for a friction fire. The convex portion at the end of the blade works great for chopping and other heavy use cutting. I've used it for some basic wood prep and shelter building practice so far, and it's an amazing chopper... goes through up to 1" pine boughs in a single stroke, and through larger ones in a matter of seconds. I spent some time at my wife's family's cabin in the Sierra Nevada foothills over Memorial Day weekend, and did some shelter building practice using this knife and my trusty Mora 2000. I cut about a dozen pine boughs with it, including de-limbing them and cutting them to length, in less than half an hour. I also used it to hew a small board out of another piece of pine to use as a hearthboard for a hand drill or bow drill for fire making duty. It was absolutely stellar at everything I used it for. More than anything, it's an outstanding chopper, performing better than some larger, heavier blades I have. I think there are three reasons for this... 1) The C10 has a saber-ground blade profile, so it's thinner and bites into wood better, compared to a Scandi edge. (No, Scandi grind knives aren't mean to chop, but I have a Condor Golok, so please don't tell me a blade like that *isn't* made for chopping!) The stock edge bevel on the C10 was also very nicely done from the factory, and even looked like it had been polished a bit. It was a much shallower angle than I had anticipated on a blade in this price range, and it was nice to see on a Chinese imported knife. 2) The composite hard plastic and rubber overmolded handle on the C10 gives a fantastic grip, and really seems to absorbs a lot of the shock coming into the hand. This gives better control over the knife, allowing you to be more efficient and precise with the cuts you make with it. 3) The shorter length and lighter weight of the C10 provides a lot of control and maneuverability. It was easy to change the angle of the blade when chopping pine boughs off the parent tree, and could fit into smaller spaces for such work that a larger and heavier blade couldn't. The sheath is also excellent. It's not kydex, like some people on U-toob have said, not at this price point anyway. But, it's pretty well made for the price, and the design is excellent. I was able to wrap the center section of the sheath with about 20' of paracord, and attach my faithful Mora 2000 to the straps that go around the sheath. I also was able to attach a spare nylon pouch made for a folder, into which I put my DMT folding diamond sharpener for quick touch-ups and ding repairs in the field. There are a few disadvantages to this blade. For one, the edge grind is shallower than I anticipated. The blade took a significant flat spot once when I hit a rock on the ground when I was doing some hewing to make a hearthboard for a hand drill. This also makes me think the heat treatment is on the soft side, so these two things together seem to me to be why it got a flat spot so easily. However, about 10 min. with one of my Smiths diamond stones quickly removed the ding. The coating of the blade is not durable at all. Even after my limited usage of the blade the coating is already coming off, after just one session in the field. I'm going to leave it on simply for the corrosion resistance it provides, but it doesn't protect the blade in any other way. While this blade can be used as a substitute for a regular hatchet or small axe for wood processing, it won't perform as well as a decent sized (14") hatchet for chopping thicker logs, splitting, and making kindling. You can do those things with this blade, and it will do them quite well, but let's face it, no knife is going to handle those chores as well as a dedicated axe or hatchet. But, if you insist on a "one tool" solution for survival and want to do wood processing with it too, this would be an excellent choice. Overall, a great blade and a great value. I'm very happy with this blade, and will be using it as my go-to camping, survival, and utility blade for the foreseeable future.
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